Campaign against discrimination of 'AIDS day'

Chennai, Dec 1 (UNI) Kollywood artistes donned the role of Cartoon characters for a noble cause -- no discrimination of HIV and AIDS infected people.

The occasion was to commemorate ''World AIDS Day''. Kollywood side artistes dressed up like the cartoon characters, also portrayed on screen by Hollywood, hit the streets of this metropolis to create awareness among the people and to remove the social stigma against AIDS-infected people.

The programme was organised by the Indian Community Welfare Organisation (ICWO) to spread the message of AIDS and HIV among the people.

Standing atop a campaign van, the artistes dressed like Superman, Batman and Spiderman, appealed to the people not to discriminate against them.

The caravan, flagged off from the Upmarket Annanagar area, with the band playing the music, stopped at about ten places distributing more than 25,000 pamphlets to spread various messages of HIV and AIDS.

The message was clear -- to educate the people on sex workers, men having sex with men and transgenders, that they should no longer remain isolated.

The programme received good support as public had a chance to interact with their favourite Super Heores, who later took an oath not to discriminate people suffering from AIDS and HIV and treat sex workers, men having sex with men and transgenders as integral part of society.

About 5.7 million people in India were affected with HIV/AIDS and were being discriminated. ''There is an urgent need to help them'', according to A J Hariharan, ICWO Secretary.

UNI GV VV RL PM1348